Tittel

Sammendrag

What happens when smoking prevalence drops in a society? After the "easy quitters" have left the smoking population, will we have a group of hard core of smokers which conventional anti-smoking measures can't reach? There is no widely accepted definition of the hard core smoker, though one popular with the tobacco research community is the habitual smoker who doesn't quit because s/he either can't or won't, and will therefore likely continue to smoke despite repeated exposure to health warnings and social sanctions against smoking (Warner 2003).
The first task of the project is to establish the group's identity, size and socio-demographic features, including internal changes relative to the wider population of smokers, that is, changes in the ratio of hard core to ordinary smokers. The second task is to review studies of different mechanisms likely to explain why this group continues to smoke despite strong anti-smoking norms in society. We approach this question from several angles: motives for continuing smoking/not to seek help to quit; social capital/social integration; and reactions to anti-tobacco campaigns in the media.
Data from several sources will be used for the project. There is a considerable body of data stemming from the tobacco user surveys of Statistics Norway conducted on behalf of the Directorate of Health. These data stretch back to 1973 and are collected from among a representative sample every autumn. In connnection with the evaluation of two anti-tobacco campaigns on TV and other media, data were collected before and after. The data sets on these campaigns  2003 and 2006 respectively  provide information on cognitive and emotional reactions to the campaigns. The final set of data stems from a web survey of daily smokers in Norway and Sweden, 2,000 all told. The survey, held in 2009 in collaboration with a Swedish team of researchers, focused on quitting and attitudes about asking for help to quit.

Vitenskapelig sammendrag

What happens when smoking prevalence drops in a society? After the "easy quitters" have left the smoking population, will we have a group of hard core of smokers which conventional anti-smoking measures can't reach? There is no widely accepted definition of the hard core smoker, though one popular with the tobacco research community is the habitual smoker who doesn't quit because s/he either can't or won't, and will therefore likely continue to smoke despite repeated exposure to health warnings and social sanctions against smoking (Warner 2003).
The first task of the project is to establish the group's identity, size and socio-demographic features, including internal changes relative to the wider population of smokers, that is, changes in the ratio of hard core to ordinary smokers. The second task is to review studies of different mechanisms likely to explain why this group continues to smoke despite strong anti-smoking norms in society. We approach this question from several angles: motives for continuing smoking/not to seek help to quit; social capital/social integration; and reactions to anti-tobacco campaigns in the media.
Data from several sources will be used for the project. There is a considerable body of data stemming from the tobacco user surveys of Statistics Norway conducted on behalf of the Directorate of Health. These data stretch back to 1973 and are collected from among a representative sample every autumn. In connnection with the evaluation of two anti-tobacco campaigns on TV and other media, data were collected before and after. The data sets on these campaigns  2003 and 2006 respectively  provide information on cognitive and emotional reactions to the campaigns. The final set of data stems from a web survey of daily smokers in Norway and Sweden, 2,000 all told. The survey, held in 2009 in collaboration with a Swedish team of researchers, focused on quitting and attitudes about asking for help to quit.